Search

Vergil's 'Aeneid' books 5 and 6 link women with dangerous things such as uncontrolled passion whether heroic or sexual and then ties them all into the labyrinth which is supposed to protect patriarchal society from negative influences. The labyrinth is first linked to the Trojan women burning their own ships, showing this as an uncontrolled, self-destructive action. The images of women and fire are used to show the constant struggle against the monster that is hidden by civilization but never completely banished.

Examines the relationship between the images of fire and the labyrinth as used in Books 5 and 6 of Vergil's `Aeneid'. Intersection of a series of fire images with a series of labyrinth images; Embodiment of the Minotaur and the action of Trojan women of unlawful desires; Use of analytical categories of psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan; Labyrinth as symbolic of repression.